On the AT - Bemis Mtn Lean-to to Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to, ME

June 4, 2007 | Miles: 8.3
Start: Bemis Mountain Lean-to
End: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to
Danielle:
After a night of snoring, we woke up to a chilly, wet morning. Ryan’s watch was reading 46 degrees in the shelter. So on with the raingear, and off we went, heading out at 7:45, last to leave, as usual… the hike up over Bemis Peaks 1 and 2 was up and over some rocky ridgeline, the blooming rhodora were nice purple highlights amidst the green and grey that dominated the rest of the landscape. However, the rocky ledges continued as we descended, and boy were they slick! We had a rough go of it, and it took us forever to navigate the slippery rocks. Ryan was not amused, and wanted to stop hiking once we reached Rt. 17. However, we finally got down off the Bemis peaks, and hit what Wingnut called a “ford.” We were relieved to find that the river was crossable on a nice log and with a few rock hops—much better than a ford on a cold day! That perked Ryan up a bit, as did the rest of the hike, which was much more mellow, winding along through some nice forest, adding Indian poke and wild oat to our list of flora seen on the way. We even had a bit of trail magic! Along one of the ponds, there was a small stream with orange sodas and a few PBRs left by a 2006 thru-hiker. We picked up a PBR to enjoy with dinner. Nothing like a cold PBR on a cold, rainy day :-) Toward the end of our hike, we hugged the shoreline of Long Pond, which had a nice beach, and then ended up at Sabbath Day Pond, with the shelter a bit removed from the pond’s edge. It was pretty early, but with no other shelters along the route, we decided to call it a day and hang out for the afternoon. Stickman and Faithful joined us, and we had another evening together, once again happy to be in the shelter and out of the rain, which picked up significantly overnight!

Ryan:
Well, another soggy day on the trail. In fact, the trail is underwater. Everything is soaked. It hasn’t really brought a full tilt rain, but the mist to almost rain has been constant. We started the day continuing along the Bemis Ridge, then with a thousand-foot descent to Bemis Stream. It sucked, and I was not a happy camper. I was sucking my thumb and wanted to be home with my woobie. Plus, I was dreading the advertised ford of Bemis Stream. I hate, hate, hate cold water. Needless to say, I was not a fun person to be around. Once again, Danielle put up with my whining, and convinced me we shouldn’t just pack it in at Route 17, which was a mile or so away. Anyway, we made it off the ridge and we reached the stream. Stickman and Faithful, after starting out from the shelter before us, were already there. Referring to the ridge, Stickman said very matter-of-factly, “That was kinda tough.” This guy’s attitude was light years ahead of mine. So, after an hour of pouting, I smacked myself around and got it together. Plus, the ford was super easy. One nicely placed downed tree and a simple rock hop later, we were on the other side. Actually, on many parts of the trail we got a lot wetter than on this ford. I was planning to have to take off the rain pant and don the Crocs, but it was really easy. Then we had the steep climb up to Route 17, and I was feeling good. I like climbing. I’m sick. The rest of the way was pretty mellow, but wet, wet, wet. June in Maine is very soggy. We passed a couple beautiful ponds, which I love hiking past. Really some of my favorite scenery. Best of all, we found cold beer in a stream left by a past thruhiker. PBR with dinner? Absolutely. I’ll definitely tote a beer to the shelter. I turned it into a mousehanger for the shelter. It’s nice to give back. We had a couple walking snacks since it was so rainy, and were eating lunch in the shelter by about 1:00. Then it was into the bag for a relaxing but chilly afternoon. Stickman and Faithful showed up about 2 hours after us, and we spent the night chatting about the Trail. I tried to convince Stickman to keep his wet t-shirt on. “Just throw a warm layer over it, and then sleep in it. It will be dry by morning. It works great. I’m doing it right now.” He wasn’t buying it.

On the AT - South Arm Road to Bemis Mtn Lean-to, ME

June 3, 2007 | Miles: 8.7
Start: South Arm Road
End: Bemis Mountain Lean-to
Danielle:
We had planned to do the Franconia Ridge this 3-day weekend, but due to forecasts for thunder, lightening, wind and rain, we thought another option might be best… So, we thought that this Maine section would be a good one. We called Earl at the Cabin in Andover on Saturday night, and arranged for him to shuttle us from our end point at Rt. 4, Rangeley back to the start at South Arm Road. During the whole 1 1/2 hour ride, Earl kept us amused with stories of hiking and hikers, as well as little bits of trivia. We also saw some white lady slippers on the back roads. Cool! We started off at 10am, and although we had a few views on the steep climb up Old Blue, things quickly clouded over and we were in the fog and mist for the rest of the afternoon. The woods had a Tolkien quality to them, very rugged, old and moss covered. And things were very wet and slippery, with the wet rocks and roots making for some rough, slow going. Thrown in were a few blowdowns to make life interesting too, of course :-) And lots of moose poop! We finally made it to Bemis Mountain Lean-to after 6 hours, to find three guys holed up there out of the mist and rain. Bookworm was on a NOBO hike, but he started in October! Now that’s a different way to do a thru! And Stickman and Faithful had just started out there hike, heading north to Katahdin and then flopping back south from Andover. Inexperienced, but seem to have good energy. We’ll be thinking of them as they head along the trail! It was an early night in the bag for us, as it was pretty chilly!
We saw lots of spring flowers on the way- trillium, goldthread, trout lilies, blue bead lilies, violets, starflowers, wild sasparilla and bunchberries.

Ryan:
Earl is the man. Who’s Earl. Earl owns and runs the Cabin in Andover, ME, and he agreed to shuttle us from our car at the end in Rangeley to the start of our hike on South Arm Road. (Oh yeah, we planned to hike from Franconia Notch to Crawford Notch, but forecast of rain, lightning, death and destruction changed our plans.) Earl told us stories the whole time, and it was great. Then we climb up Old Blue. Old Blue flat out brings it. Steep climb. And, we were climbing into the clouds. It never really rained on us, but it was very wet, soggy and misty all day long. Earl warned us about blowdowns, but we saw very few until we saw a lot. From Elephant Mountain (or near it, anyway) to the Bemis Stream Trail, the blowdowns were crazy. Up, over, around, through. You name it. We climbed Mt. Bemis, but didn’t bother with the viewpoint…since we were in a cloud. Maybe there were other views. No idea. See aforementioned cloud. We rolled into Bemis Mountain Lean-to at about 4:00, and there were already 3 in-residence. Bookworm, an ’06-’07 thruhiker who started in October of ’06, took two months off, and now is only a couple weeks from Katahdin. Good stuff. The other two, Stickman and Faithful, who are ’07 southbounders who are doing a northbound section to start just to get rolling. They’re going from Andover to Katahdin, and then they’ll head south. Stickman just turned 50 and has been dreaming of hiking the AT since he first heard of it at age 15. Faithful just turned 21 and is very, very quiet, but he did try to set the shelter on fire. He wasn’t quite sure how to use his stove. They are very green, but happy to be on the trail We talked to them a ton about our AT experience, and we wish them all the best. Hopefully, they’ll take some of our advice, especially since, like most new hikers, they are carrying way, way, way too much stuff. All in all, a great day on the trail, but I must admit, I was pretty tired by the time we got to the shelter. It was nice to curl up in the bag.

On the AT - Rt. 112, Kinsman Notch to Franconia Notch, NH

May 28, 2007 | Miles: 7.5
Start: Rt. 112, Kinsman Notch
End: Eliza Brook Shelter
Danielle:
After pouring rain last night, things cleared up pretty well! We had beautiful blue skies and a nice breeze to keep things cool. The spring flowers were everywhere! Violets, trout lilies, painted and purple trillium, the blue beads were starting to flower, bunchberry, star flowers, wild oats, bluets, the hobblebush were blooming and the woods were nice and green! The views from Mt. Wolf were nice, with Franconia Notch in clear view. The trail itself was rough—lots of rocks, roots and many blowdowns made for slow going all day long. The 7.5 miles took us 5 hours, but we made it to Eliza Brook Shelter before 3pm. What a nice spot! The Brook was running well—don’t we wish all water sources were like that! There was one other hiker at the shelter—“GG,” a great grandmother attempting to finish her hike of the AT—good for her!—who we hung out with until about 6pm when the bugs got too bad. Then into the tent we went, and to sleep EARLY! We should get 12 hours of sleep every night J Two older gentlemen rolled into the shelter around 8pm, but we were already half asleep…

Ryan:
First backpack of the season and real test of the old bones. OK, maybe not that old, but in words of Indiana Jones: “It’s not the years. It’s the mileage.” Short story: some grouchiness in my right knee of late. My plan for the day was to just take it slow, which is tough to do with Danielle cracking the whip, but she was cool with just moseying. The climb out of Kinsman Notch is a good way to wake up, and it was humid…therefore, I was soggy. Nothing of great interest to report from the climb up Mt. Wolf. Overall, it’s a pleasant journey, and a hike I wanted to do for a while. It’s definitely worth it to take the side trail to the view. The trail after Mt. Wolf down to the junction with the Reel Brook Trail…well, it sucks. Down, then up, then down, rocky, puddish, more rocky, no flow, no rhythm, just not that fun. Plus, along the whole way there were blowdowns a plenty…should have carried a chainsaw and a team of horses to pull out the logs. Eliza Brook Shelter is a really nice spot. It was just us and a 70 year-old woman, GG, section hiking the AT. She seemed really happy to see us to have someone to share the evening. But the evening didn’t last long as the black flies were overly friendly, so we climbed in the tent about 6:30. So, we decided to just go to sleep. Ah, life on the trail. Best of all, no pain in my knee today, just general fatigue from, you know, walking.

May 29, 2007 | Miles: 8.9
Start: Eliza Brook Shelter
End: Franconia Notch Bikepath
Danielle:
Amazing how early you can get up if you’ve gone to bed at 6pm :-) We were all packed up and on the trail by 7:30, but of course, as always with us, everyone else managed to get out of the shelter before us! Beat again… The trail wound up and along Eliza Brook, treating us to some wonderful cascades and the nice sound of water for a while. Then, it was up, up, up. Again, the trail was rough, and there were a lot of blowdowns. Only a few sections of snow, but nothing much. Wingnut wasn’t kidding about his description of the ascent/descent of South Kinsman involving many rock scrambles! Finally caught up with the pair of gentlemen staying at the shelter. One of them started his thru-hike February 26 and was planning to finish on Katahdin by June 17. Wow! Impressive… After a steep, wet descent of North Kinsman, we had lunch by a nice stream on Fishin’ Jimmy Trail and finally made it down to Lonesome Lake, where we were treated to gorgeous views of Franconia Ridge! The final 3 miles were a breeze, and we made it to the car in good time. After a stop for brownie sundaes in Lincoln, we made it home in time to shower, get groceries and be eating pizza by 7:30pm! Not bad… All in all, a wonderful weekend!

Ryan:
Early to bed, early to rise to start this entry with a cliché. Cloudy and cool start at 7:30, but the trail along Eliza Brook is beautiful. The trail follows the brook for a couple miles up the side of South Kinsman…really nice. Couple grouchy blowdowns along the way, and then it gets steep. This trail is not messing around. We caught up with GG not far from the South Kinsman summit. She was moving pretty slowly but was still in good spirits. I was very impressed. The clouds had almost lifted by the time we hit South Kinsman. Enough to look sunny, but still kind of in the clouds. The wind was movin’, so we didn’t linger. The section between South and North Kinsman is your typical high, wooded ridge in the Whites…in other words, it’s beautiful and pretty much my favorite type of hiking. On top of North Kinsman, we met up with a duo, one out for a couple days, the other had started in Georgia on Feb. 16. Dude is movin’. Good bet he’s staying at Garfield Ridge tonight. The sun was full out now, and the wind had died so we chatted with them a bit before moving on. The trail down North Kinsman is the trail down North Kinsman. Rocky and rough. It doesn’t get much easier on the Fishin’ Jimmy Trail although psychologically, it feels like it should. Oh yeah, my knee has felt great the whole time. Let’s see…beautiful view at Lonesome Lake, sunny along Cascade Brook, eventually made it to Route 93. A great hike on the AT in NH. (The walk on the Franconia Bike Path to our car at the Flume Visitor Center wasn’t great, but that mile doesn’t really “count.”) No snow to speak of anywhere along any of these trails. The dominant features were blowdowns and trilliums—take the good with the bad. The trails are very wet and muddy, but it’s May in the Whites.

On the AT - West Hartford to Connecticut River, VT/NH line

April 29, 2007 | Miles: 9.3
Start: VT 14, West Hartford
End: Connecticut River, VT/NH border
Danielle:
A “cloudy bright” day on the trail, with scattered showers.
The day managed to be better weather-wise than the soggy drive over would have indicated, which was good! Ryan was ready for mutiny when I woke him up at 6:00am, and a super rainy, muddy day on the trail wouldn’t have made things any better! We parked our car in Hanover, and Steve from Apex Shuttles picked us up to take us to the start in West Hartford. What a nice guy, and even better that we didn’t have to drive two cars over.
The trail was nice and mellow, winding through the open woods of Vermont, and relatively dry. The hillsides were starting to come alive with the spring wildflowers—rue anemone, trout lilies and trillium just starting to bud, yellow violets—and with wildlife as well. We saw several turkeys, a woodpecker, chickadees and nuthatches, my first two salamanders of the season (OK, they're really red efts), as well as a big owl silently gliding by. Very cool. We had lunch at Happy Hill Shelter (what a great name!) and continued our wander through the woods, finally ending with a road walk through Norwich, VT, under I-91 and back to the car. A quick hike too—6 hours of driving for 4 hours of hiking :-) But another good day on the trail… it’s good to be out!

Ryan:
Misty, drizzly, seemed like it wanted to clear.
Brief synopsis: Misty, cloudy day. Mellow hike, couple minor ups and downs. Lots of bird and flower sections, which I’m sure Danielle has chronicled. Overall: a great day.
Few more details: Section hiking is kind of a pain. It’s so much easier to keep heading north…guess I shouldn’t have hurt my back in ’05. But there are plenty of great folks out there who can help with rides. So, only one car today, and one ride.
Other than that, my knee felt pretty good today. It didn’t feel good all week, so I was pretty skeptical. But it held up great. It only seems to hurt walking on flat. Who knows? More stretching and more exercises during the week, so Danielle can continue her quest to kill me.

On the AT - VT/NH border to Lyme-Dorchester Road, NH

April 22, 2007 | Miles: 8.9
Start: Connecticut River, VT/NH border
End: Three Mile Road
Danielle:
Our first foray on the AT this year. With the snow from the recent Nor’Easter up in the Whites, I figured we might have better luck over near Hanover, where the trail is at lower elevations. And I was right. No real snow to speak of. Of course, we had the whole gamut of trail conditions…You name it... we had it... wet, dry, muddy, mud with ice underneath, icy, snowy patches, swampy, little blowdowns, big blowdowns, even bigger blowdowns and a stretch of total devastation right after Trescott Road, where the blowdowns were continual for approx. 200 yards or more. It was truly amazing how many trees were blocking the trail. What should have taken 3 minutes took 45 instead. But despite that, it was a great day to be out. Bright and sunny, and the temps were in the 70s! It felt like summer instead of mid-April :-) The trail was easy to follow through town, where all the students were out enjoying the sun on the Dartmouth quad, and the trail was pretty mellow all day, going through a wide range of forest. No wildflowers out yet, but some trout lily leaves were poking up through the leaf litter near Three Mile Road. Spring has arrived!

Ryan:
Two things you need to know: 1. Danielle is trying to kill me, and 2. I have an impinged infrapatellar fat pad in my right knee. Second one first: After thinking for a few years that I have a problem with my IT band, I’ve finally confirmed that it is indeed my fat pad that is the issue. It’s just what it sounds like. It’s there to keep the bones from rubbing together. Mine just gets pinched by my knee cap against my femur (I think) from time to time. Short story: It’s a shooting pain on the outside of my right knee. Now the first point: Danielle keep dragging me outside in all weather in all seasons. I really think she’s trying to kill me.
Anyway, today was our first time back on the AT since last year, and we’re hoping to cover a lot of miles this year. This first weekend was a test of my knee. Overall, it held up pretty well today. A little pain towards the end of the day, but not as bad as I’ve felt it in the past. So hopefully my exercises are paying off.
Today was all about blowdowns. The Nor’easter last week did some major damage. The trail maintainers haven’t been out yet so we were dodging, ducking dipping, diving and dodging all over the place, Once section was so bad, it may just be easier to reroute the trail.
All in all, a nice hike to start the season.

April 23, 2007 | Miles: 9.2
Start: Three Mile Road
End: Lyme-Dorchester Road
Danielle:
After a yummy meal at Lui Lui’s in Lebanon and a good sleep at the Econo Lodge in White River Junction, we hit the hip coffee shop in Hanover for a quick breakfast, and headed back to Three Mile Road. Ryan’s knee was not feeling great, and we weren’t quite sure how far we’d get, but we decided to give it a go and headed up to South Moose Mountain. His knee held in there, and we tromped through the mud and water along the trail up to the summit. Nice views from the top. The trail was a bit snowy as we wandered down to Moose Mountain Shelter, where we took a short break for stretching. Nice spot! Saw a few clumps of wood sorrel as we descended from North Moose Mountain, their flowers pushing up through the leaves. Our first spring flowers! Big descent off North Moose, and then another big, long, steep climb up Holts Ledge, which left us winded! And boy was it hot out again! My car was reading in the 80s on the way home. Holts Ledge is a peregrine falcon nesting spot, so we couldn’t get close to the edge. Managed to miss the left-hand turn of the AT off the ledges, and instead took a small tour of the top of the Skiway :-) A steep descent, and back to the car by 3:30.

Ryan:
One thing I failed to mention from yesterday was the mud. In retrospect, that’s not a big deal because it was much worse today. My boots are completely caked with goo. The trail right now is really a mixed bag: dry, mud, more mud, muddy water, clear water, snow, muddy mud, sucking mud and MUD. But, hey, it’s April.
My legs were definitely tired from yesterday, and my knee was grouchy from the beginning. I went back to my trusty knee brace today, and it worked really well. The brace isn’t specifically designed to relive the pain for my condition, but it works pretty well. The best part is that I was able to complete the hike. Today was the hottest day so far this year. Easily into the 80’s. I nearly melted on one of the climbs. I don’t really want to know what thruhikers think of the climb, because they probably don’t even remember it. But, I thought about sitting in the middle of the trail and waiting for the wood nymphs to carry me away.
Despite the blood, sweat and mud, it was a great two days on the trail. Looking forward to more of Danielle’s attempts to kill me in the coming months.

On the AT - Upper Goose Pond Cabin to Pittsfield Rd., MA

September 22, 2006 | Miles: 11.0
Start: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
End: Pittsfield Road, The Cookie Lady’s House
Danielle:
Beautiful and fall-like
After a wonderful breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes (thanks Jack! What a treat!), we headed back to the trail around 9am. This morning didn’t quite feel as cold as yesterday, although it could have been due to waking up after our nice, cozy (if noisy—Jack snores!) sleep in the Upper Goose Pond Cabin’s bunkroom…and we again had bright, clear blue skies. Today’s trail conditions could be summarized as wet and muddy sections interspersed with roots and rocks, but it really was a pleasant day in the woods. This section of Massachusetts has been quite nice. We crossed the bridge over the Mass Pike and wandered up and along a ridgeline, once again being treated to a few beaver ponds on the way.

Although we were pretty tired from yesterday’s hike, we made good time for our 11 miles today, making it to Pittsfield Road by 2:30pm. We wandered down the road to “The Cookie Lady’s” house. The couple who owns the house, which also has a blueberry farm, have been feeding hikers cookies for years, and let them get water from their spigot, relax at their picnic table, and sometimes do shuttles. We were treated to some wonderful cookies (Yum!) and “The Cookie Man” nicely offered to take us back to our car in Tyringham. After relaxing a bit, enjoying a few handfuls of wonderful high bush blueberries, we had a nice ride back to the car… This was a great 3-day/2-night trip, even though I had anticipated that it was only going to be 2-days/1-night! It was fun to be hiking, great that Ryan didn’t have any pain, nice to chat with the thru- and section-hikers we met, and even good to be smelly again :-) Now we’re scheming how we can get more miles in this season before the snow flies!

The flora and fauna highlight for today was that we saw a porcupine! It was in the woods a few yards from the trail, and didn’t seem too interested in the smelly hikers taking its photo. It’s the first porcupine we’ve seen on the trail. Pretty neat.

Ryan:
perfect
After a not too late night at Goose Pond cabin followed by the extremely loud snoring of the caretaker, Traveling Jack, we hit the road at 9:00 am. Unfortunately, the cabin is .5 from the AT, so we had some walking even before we were officially on the trail. It was cool again, actually it was a perfect, crisp, clear fall autumn morning.

Massachusetts is pretty mellow. A couple ups and downs but nothing big. Lots of little beaver ponds. But, we’re fairly certain that we would find it less pleasant if we were thruhiking still, since we would be in Massachusetts in early August…lots of mosquitoes.
So, I was definitely tired today, but no pain again. Knees and back both felt great. I’ve got a small thing in my shoulder, same thing that bothered me last year, but it’s my top priority for my massage therapist. (Yup, I’m that bourgeois.) I can work it out pretty well, though.

It was three full days back on the trail, and they were awesome. Couldn’t have been better. So, I just have to keep up with my exercises, and we should be out hiking every weekend. I can’t wait.

Oh yeah, we saw a porcupine today. Funny looking critter.

Today’s song: “C is for Cookie,” Cookie Monster – we ended our hike at the Cookie Lady’s house. She has been handing out cookies to thruhikers for 20 years. Her and her husband have a blueberry farm with very tasty high bush blueberries. Nice people. He even gave us a lift back to our car in Tyringham – 18 trail miles south. Yup, we walked a lot more than planned.

On the AT - Great Barrington to Upper Goose Pond Cabin, MA

September 20, 2006 | Miles: 5.1
Start: MA 23, Great Barrington
End: Mt. Wilcox Shelter North
Danielle:
Nice and fall-like
It's interesting what evokes an emotional response... we've been out hiking on the trail a few times already this year but something about going by "the rock" just past Blue Hill Rd. this morning really made us emotional. The spot where we decided to stop last year, where Ryan said "enough." To walk past it and up the trail was something. Wouldn't have thought it would mean so much to pass it by, but symbolically it was important...and on we went...

It was a mellow day for us, but our first day on the trail as an overnight with big packs. It's feeling like fall. Cool and crisp, with some of the trees changing too. Very nice. Had lunch at Benedict Pond, and passed a few other woodland ponds as we meandered to the shelter. Got here at 1:30, just before the rain hit. It's clearing up now, but just in case, it looks like we'll be in the shelter tonight...and likely early in our bags too. Brrr! Snowman is starting a fire to keep us warm, and another hiker, Ramps, has joined us. All in all, a wonderful day in the woods, and great to be out :-)
Flora and fauna notes: 26 orange salamanders, many toads and many cool-looking purple mushrooms.

Ryan:
today was our first backpack on the at since last year. our route also took us past the place we stopped last year - the rock. it's a faceless rock in the massachusetts woods. but, it's an important spot for us. i remember sitting on that rock last year knowing that i wouldn't get to see what was around the corner. today i did. needless to say, it was pretty emotional.

our hike was great. short but great. a good first test with the full pack. even with only 1 night of food, it's heavy. backpacking is hard. i felt great. i could have kept going, but stopping for the night was the better choice. another shortish day tomorrow. so, we'll see how i feel. but, i'm very optimistic. made a decent fire tonight...in the off and on rain showers. hairball would have been proud. danielle brought the wrong sleeping bag. i hope she doesn't freeze.

Song of the day: Boogie on Reggae Woman, Stevie Wonder.

September 21, 2006 | Miles: 14.0
Start: Mt. Wilcox Shelter North
End: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Danielle:
Gorgeous! Cool.
Well, remember how last year on the second day, our schedule went out the window? Today was very similar.... we had a nice morning hiking through the woods, scaring up a few grouse along the way and enjoying the woods. We went through some beautiful meadows and over a few nice bog bridges alongside some swampy fields. A great morning to be out. Anyway, we made our 7 miles to the car by 12:00, and Snowman really wanted to keep going. I was concerned that it would be pushing it, but he said he felt great, so after a little cajoling, we picked up some food at the car, and kept going... the next 7 miles were not quite as flat or smooth, but we made it here by 4:00. Upper Goose Pond is gorgeous, as the trail skirted its edges for the last mile or so... the cabin is set up in the woods, with a caretaker, above the lake. Travelin Jack is a fun character, sharing lots of stories and food! Great fun. After a filling dinner with lots of extra snacks, we are inside by the fire. Ramps is here too, as is a SOBO and 2 friends of Jack's. Lots of fun, and a gorgeous day. Bright blue skies and cool. Couldn't ask for a better hiking day! And even better, Ryan felt great. I'm a bit tired, but it's great to be out! :-)
flora and fauna: closed gentian-neat purple flower, endangered-,2 grouse, chickadees, one garter snake.

Ryan:
perfect weather
the plan was to hike 7 today. but, in a strange twist of at fate, i felt great. no pain. it was really quite awesome. so, really i have nothing to complain about today.
our car was parked at a road 7 miles from the start. so, we stopped, ate lunch, and i convinced danielle to keep walking. the best part was we were able to resupply at the car. kinda neat. of course, the 7 miles before lunch were easier than the 7 miles after lunch...reminded me of our 2nd day on the trail when we extended our plan and the pm was harder. but, really it wasn't that hard. see, i'm not complaining.
upper goose pond cabin is awesome. big fire in the fireplace and i was greeted with a beer from the caretaker. hiking is the best thing ever.

Song of the Day: Transcendental Blues, Steve Earle

On the AT - Grange Hall Road to Church Road, Cheshire, MA

September 18, 2006 | Miles: 11.5
Start: Grange Hall Rd., south of Dalton
End: Church Rd., Cheshire
Danielle:
Started off cloudy, turned into bright and sunny and warm
Back on the AT for us! We’re on vacation this week, and are doing pieces of the trail in Massachusetts, based out of Mim’s house, which is fun. We chose this stretch between Dalton and Cheshire since Patch said it was “flat.” Well, I’m sure his brain thought it was flat, but there were definitely a few bumps J Especially to those of us who haven’t hiked much this summer!

Still, we had a great day. Didn’t get the earliest start—well, which isn’t really new for us—and the taxi driver dropped us off at a different starting point than expected, which added a few miles, but we were still done by 3:15. Not so bad for 11.5 miles! The trail today took us through the town of Dalton for a mile and a half road walk and then up onto a nice ridge, where it dipped and turned, through some beautiful woods. We had our afternoon snack by a pond, the swamp maples just starting to turn, showing off their fall foliage. I picked a few blackberries that had ripened in the sun near our rocky perch, and which we enjoyed with our molasses cookies. Yum! It was great to get out on this gorgeous day, and even better was that Ryan felt good. Very exciting, especially as we’re hoping to get in a short overnight later this week :-)

As always, it was good to be outside and we’re happy to be back on the trail!

Ryan:
Sunny, Warm
Well, we’re back at it. Best of all, we’re on vacation. Certainly, there are more glamorous places to go on vacation than western Massachusetts, but there are still many miles to be done. And, as I said today, “Hiking is really fun when it doesn’t hurt.” So, that’s the good news of the day, no pain. Anywhere. Sure, tired feet and legs, but we walked 11.5 miles. Plenty of stretching is in order for tonight. We feel like we’re getting back into it slowly, but today was great and we’re very excited looking ahead.

So, like I said, we’re on vacation. Spending time with Danielle’s grandmother in Williamstown and using it as a home base for our hiking operations. The logistics are much more difficult since we’re not just walking north, but it’s worth it. Today, we drove our car to the finish point and had a taxi take us to the start. This worked out great, even though he dropped us off about 2 AT miles south of our plan. But it was fine. It gave us time to get a couple miles in before the long road walk through the town of Dalton.

The hiking today was fairly mellow: a couple little bumps that we would have barely noticed if we were in real hiking shape. We met a group of 10 or so headed south—the Monday Mountain Boys, a hiking group in the Berkshires of retired men who hike every Monday. The oldest of which was 80. That seems like a good goal.

We have a few more days to plan for later this week, including a short backpack. It won’t help us get a lot of miles done, but it will be great to be out camping again. It’s much easier to just carry the light daypack, but I’m really looking forward to it.

So, the AT was good to us today. Hopefully, that will be the story moving forward.

On the AT - NH25A to Rt. 25, Glencliff, NH

August 27, 2006 | Miles: 9.8
Start: Rt. 25A
End: Rt. 25, Glencliff
Danielle:
Cloudy for the first hour; rainy and cool for the rest of the hike.
A soggy, cold walk in the woods today. We started out at 9:30am again today to cloudy, windy skies. It didn't start raining until about an hour into the hike, and then it continued the rest of the way, turning the overgrown trail into a carwash! The hike today was just sort of a rolling walk through the forest, without any views and without too much to talk about specifically. With the rain and the cool weather, there wasn't much reason to stop along the way, so we just chugged along, taking 4 hours from road to road. Luckily the terrain was pretty mellow and the treadway was relatively smooth, which helped. Ryan hung in there really well, despite being tired from two good days of hiking. Saw 3 orange salamanders and 5 toads, but not much else.

Ryan:
Rain
Hiking in the rain isn't a lot of fun. But, I'm complained enough already today, so I'm not going to complain here. I finally stopped complaining once I realized that I was hiking. A month ago, I couldn't have done what we did this weekend. I certainly couldn't have done it 6 months ago. So, I really can't complain. Although, I'm tired and sore...and way out of shape. We did manage to hike the almost 10 miles today in about 4 hours, so that's encouraging. So, more exercises and a little running this week to keep up the healing. I had a little grouchiness in my right knee near the end of the hike, but I was able to stretch my legs and the pain dissipated. That was very encouraging. As far as the hike goes, it was an unexciting section and if we had to do a section of NH in the rain, then this was the section to do. It's back to work tomorrow and back on the AT again soon. Maybe even an overnight in our near future.

On the AT - Rt. 25, Glencliff to Rt. 112, Kinsman Notch, NH

August 26, 2006 | Miles: 9.5
Start: Rt. 25, Glencliff
End: Rt. 112, Kinsman Notch
Danielle:
Overcast with high ceiling, cool and nice
Ryan says it's not as exciting or enthralling to document the rest of our AT journey, as we'll be doing it in fits and starts. But, for my own satisfaction, I plan to document the whole darn 2100 miles, no matter how long it takes us :-) So, here is our first stretch back out on the trail, a year and a month after we last passed a white blaze. It's taken this long for Ryan to be healed again, and it was great to get back out hiking! And even more so to have Ryan healthy again! We have missed being in the woods, and we always enjoy our hikes together--today was no exception! I was feeling a bit nostalgic as we crossed Rt. 25 and passed our first white blaze, I must admit. And it's funny how even though we're no longer thru-hikers, we still think like then. Oh this is a good tent site; this would be a good stream for water; what is up with the road walk? The mind just reverts right back to that way of thinking! So, we started out at 9:30, to a 5.75 mile uphill, up to Mt. Moosilauke, which we have done before, but not via the AT. It's the first above treeline hiking for northbounders. And boy is it an uphill to get there! But very pretty forest, and gorgeous up top. About one mile from the summit, we hit the ridgeline, and it was a beautiful walk. It was cloudy but with a high ceiling, no wind, no bugs, cool. Can't complain! We had lots of company on the summit. A few thruhikers and lots of dayhikers. We had lunch at the top, taking in the views and enjoying the alpine tundra. Then it was the downhill on the other side. As a hiker wrote in the Beaver Brook register: "I am not looking forward to dropping off the face of the earth!" It was incredibly rocky and steep. But it did follow the Beaver Brook which had many cascades and was quite pretty. Down to the Notch by 4pm and then into town for pizza. It may not be the same as thruhiking, but finishing off the trail in sections does have its advantages! No big packs, not as much smell (still a bit! all our clothes still smell :-) ), plus cotton clothes and pizza at the end of the day! We're camped at one of the forest service campgrounds along Rt. 112, and Ryan has built us a great fire! Hairball would be proud :-)
Flora and fauna notes: Saw a Broad-winged hawk and several Golden-crowned Kinglets flitting in the trees. The bunchberries, particularly along the ridge before the summit, were showing off their bright red berries. Very pretty.

Ryan:
Mix of sun & clouds, nice
so, we're back on the trail. it only took a year. i wanted to be certain our first foray onto the at this year was a good one, so i'm glad we waited. after thinking i was fixed from my injuries from last summer, then getting reinjured, some serious pt was in order. then a lot of patience. so, i did my exercises and took it easy since april. and, it's paying off. i've been running a little, but i've clawed my way up to 3 miles without any knee pain. it's been my knees that have been the culprit this time. lots of running and hiking in my past have left them grouchy. but, like i said, it feels like things are turning around, which is exciting. danielle has been patient with me and very supportive, so she gets a lot of credit. so, after a little running and some shorter test hikes, i felt ready to hit the at. of course, we picked a fairly hard section...well, because we're dumb. but, it was awesome. no pain. basically it was a long climb with a steep downhill. stupid steep. not a lot of fun. but, then again hiking isn't really fun. it doesn't really matter where we went or what we saw because it was just good to be back on the trail together. it was a great day. and, we're 9 miles closer to our goal: walking past all the white blazes...together.
today's song: 18 and life, skid row - sometimes the only thing to get you through a long climb is a hair metal classic.

April 6 - Springer Fever

April 9, 2006
Danielle:
There’s something about this time of year… Springer Fever, they call it. And it’s true. We’ve spent a lot of time these past few weeks thinking about the AT, our friends and our adventure. We’re envious of those who are just starting their journey this year, who have so many miles, so many friendships, a lot of sore muscles and emotions ahead of them on the trail. We miss it. A lot.

But here we are, back in the “real world.” And we’re happy here in Maine. Happy with our jobs, and to be on the coast. Yet still, we both can’t help but have our thoughts turn to the trail, especially now, in early spring, thinking about where we were last year on this day and that. I guess this is why so many people say long distance hiking is an addiction. The trail really becomes a part of you, and you want to go back.

Well, we still have 600+ miles of the trail left before us. I had hoped we would get out there starting this month—and surprise, surprise, had come up with all sorts of plans to see how we could get the miles in this year—, but I guess it’s just not to be. Ryan is still recovering. His back and feet are better, but his knees are still bothering him. He’s working hard on it though, so we should be back hiking soon. It might not be until later this summer, but don’t give up hope on us yet :-) The trail calls, and we’ll be out there with our backpacks, following the white blazes and ticking off the miles north before we know it!

November 28 - 4 months later

November 28, 2005
Danielle:
As Snowman said earlier, it has now been as many months since we've been off the trail as we were on the trail. Crazy how quickly 4 months go by. We are settling in nicely to "normal" life here in Brunswick, Maine. We are enjoying being on the coast, taking in the sun flickering off the ocean and the rocks and pine that make up our new landscape. We are back to work (poor schmucks both of us, I know), but we're happy in our respective spots. I'm at the art gallery, and Snowman is working at a small ad agency that specializes in environmental and cultural clients. Although we have plunged back into "reality," we have not forgotten the trail. It stays with us... Snowman says it's through his stretching routine and the anti-inflamatories (which unfortunately is true, but he's getting there!), but it's more than that too :-) The comraderie, our friends, being out in nature every day, the simplicity of carrying all we need on our back, being smelly, all that good stuff :-) I am already scheming to get us back out there next spring and start heading north again, bit by bit. I am looking forward to it!

August 25 - A month later

August 25, 2005
Danielle:
Despite what you think of Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods," whether his friend Katz is real, whether he is truly depicting the AT experience, one has to admit that he is a gifted writer. As Ryan was finishing up his re-reading of the book today, he read off a quote to me that rang true for both of us.
"I had come to realize that I didn't have any feelings toward the AT that weren't confused and contradictory. I was weary of the trail, but still strangely in its thrall; found the endless slog tedious but irresistible; grew tired of the boundless woods but admired their boundlessness; enjoyed the escape from civilization and ached for its comforts. I wanted to quit and to do this forever, sleep in a bed and in a tent, see what was over the next hill and never see a hill again. All of this all at once, every moment, on the trail or off."
The trail was fun and pain, joy and misery, all at once. If we were still out there, headed north, we would have close to a month of walking to go. We know we would be excited, but tired, wanting to reach the end and not. The trail tugs at us, but civilization sure is nice. We are sad, still, to not be out on the trail with our friends, wandering through the northern woods, and yet, happy to know we'll have the chance to spread out our experience, enjoy the trail in short bursts and at a more leisurely pace over the next few years. We will never stop thinking about the trail, one way or another, remembering the good and bad, and I suppose, really, that was what it was, and is, all about :-)
-Sparkplug

My body still hurts. -a P.S. by Snowman

August 10 - Two weeks off the trail

August 10, 2005
Danielle:
Well, it's been almost 2 weeks since we got off the trail for this year. Amazing how much we've managed to cram into those two weeks as we attempt to emerge back into "normal" society. In a way, it feels like forever ago that we were out hiking on the AT.
But on the other hand, my body still aches for the exertion of the trail. My legs wonder why I'm doing all this sitting, with 30-minute intervals at 8- to 9-minute mile pace mixed in now and then, versus the nice 20- to 30-minute pace they're used to moving at all day long. My heart still yearns to be out following the white blazes, especially on these beautiful blue-sky days. But my mind, well, it admits that it's nice to be able to shower every day, put on clean clothes, eat fresh fruits and vegetables and not smell. :-)
We went over to the Inn at Long Trail in Killington, VT on Monday to pick up a mail drop we had sent there previously. We ran into a few thru-hikers as well as some hikers doing the Long Trail (which runs 270 miles from the MA/VT border to the VT/Canada border), and were able to do a little trail magic--giving away some of our food, driving them to the PO and the outfitter--and catch up a bit on the trail. Many of our hiking buddies--Beantown, Hairball & Snowbunny, Hopeful & Redwing--had already passed through there a week ago. And Patch had not yet come through. Still, it was nice to be there and help out as we could. We also left a cooler with drinks, candy and crackers at one of the VT road crossings, and we hope that some of our friends will find it and enjoy it.
It was bittersweet to drop the hikers off at the trailhead on Tuesday morning, and watch them shoulder their packs and head off into the woods, following the white blazes north. A bit of yearning and sadness to not be following, and yet, the knowledge that we have exciting times ahead of us too as we move on with our lives, and the acknowledgement that we will be coming to this spot again, hopefully next year, as we continue our journey on the trail...

August 1 - Ryan chimes in from NC

August 1, 2005
Ryan:
So, how does it feel when your dream dies? Honestly, pretty crappy. How does it feel when you've crushed someone else's dream? Even crappier. We dreamt of hiking 2,174.9 miles in one season. We disrupted our lives and took a risk to do so. We fell short. Why? Because my body fell apart. Not the way we planned it.
We're in North Carolina at Danielle's parents' house relaxing and picking up our car. We're going to hit the road tomorrow to head north, visit my parents and start anew. With a few days to reflect on the last four months, it's been a roller coaster. I'm so proud of what we accomplished, and I'm so amazed by all the people we met and friends we made...but, I feel empty, unfulfilled. We didn't make it to Katahdin, and that hurts. It's my fault, that hurts even more. In the back of my mind, I keep thinking that I'll see a doctor this week, he'll hand me the magic pill, and we'll be back hiking again. Not likely. Right now, my back hurts. It's tight and sore, but I'm certain that I can straighten that out. My feet, honestly, I think are kind of screwed up. My right foot especially is in bad shape. Who knew that all that walking with a pack would do such a thing? That bit of info definitely was not in the brochure. And because of all this...um...discomfort, I'm relieved. I'm glad to not be hiking. I know that my body is happy, and that it's ready to get fixed. Then, I look at Danielle. She so badly wanted to thruhike. I couldn't go with her. That's what hurts the most.
Here's the good news: we're ready to move on...or, we are moving on. It still hurts, and we're still sad. But best of all, we're still together. Everyone said that this hike would make us or break us as a couple. But, I don't really think it did either. We're definitely not broken, and we're definitely not defined by it. It was just four months of our time together. It was the best four months. I learned so much about myself and about us. In short, we can get through anything...whatever the outcome. I'm not sure we would have learned that if we had made it to Katahdin. Sure, it would have been nice to have finished on a high note, but I think in the coming days, weeks, months and years, we will look back on these four months and 1500 miles as a time that really brought us together and made us realize that we need each other more than we ever knew. She's my best friend, adventure partner, and a whole lot more.
So, look for us on the coast of Maine...in the woods, on the trails, and in the snow. Or look for us in other far flung and different places. For instance, the Long Trail is only about 270 miles...